A possible offensive in Rafah in preparation, catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, ongoing discussions on a possible truce...
Le Figaro
takes stock of the situation this Monday February 26.
A plan to evacuate civilians in the Gaza Strip has been proposed by the IDF
The Israeli army has proposed a plan to evacuate civilians in the Gaza Strip, Benjamin Netanyahu's services announced on Monday, still determined to launch a military offensive against the overpopulated town of Rafah.
Many countries, including the United States, Israel's main ally, and humanitarian organizations have warned against a ground operation in Rafah, where, according to the UN, nearly 1.5 million Palestinians are crowded together, the vast majority displaced, in extremely precarious conditions.
Backed by Egypt's closed border, the city is also an entry point for humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.
The army
“presented to the war cabinet a plan for the evacuation of populations from combat zones in the Gaza Strip, as well as the plan for future operations
,” the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.
No details were provided on the modalities of an evacuation or on the locations of a relocation.
While talks for a truce have resumed in Qatar, Netanyahu wants to launch a ground operation against Rafah, which he presents as the
“last bastion”
of the Islamist movement Hamas.
An offensive would only be
“delayed”
if a truce currently being negotiated was concluded, he declared on Sunday on the American channel CBS.
By launching this operation, Israel will be
“a few weeks away”
from
“total victory”
over the Islamist movement, he said.$
Read alsoPalestinian negotiations on the post-war period
2.2 million people threatened with “mass starvation”
The Hamas health ministry announced Monday that 92 Palestinians had been killed in overnight strikes.
The Hamas government press office said 15 members of the same family had died in a house in Gaza City.
Since the start of the war triggered by the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, the Gaza Strip, besieged by Israel, has suffered a major humanitarian catastrophe.
According to the UN, 2.2 million people, the vast majority of the population, are threatened with
“mass famine”
.
On Sunday, hundreds of people, driven by hunger, fled northern Gaza, where 300,000 inhabitants risk starvation according to the UN.
International aid, which trickles in from Egypt, is subject to Israel's green light and its delivery to the north is almost impossible due to destruction and fighting.
In its statement, Benjamin Netanyahu's office also announced that the war cabinet had approved a plan to provide humanitarian aid
"that will prevent looting"
, without further details.
Palestinians in Gaza have said in recent days that they are forced to eat leaves, fodder for livestock, and even slaughter draft animals for food.
A famine can still be
“avoided”
in Gaza if Israel allows humanitarian agencies to bring in
“significant aid
,” the commissioner general of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Philippe, said on Sunday. Lazzarini.
Many voices, including the United States, Israel's main ally, and the UN, are concerned about the fate of the population in Rafah in the event of a ground offensive.
“There is room”
for civilians
“to go north of Rafah, to the areas where we have finished the fight
,” Netanyahu said on CBS.
Also read: Israel rejects the “diktats” of its allies
Mediating countries try to reach a compromise with a view to a truce
At the same time, the mediating countries are trying to extract a compromise from the two parties with a view to a truce.
Egyptian, Qatari and American representatives, as well as Israel and Hamas, resumed negotiations on Sunday in Doha which
“will be followed by meetings in Cairo”
, according to a television close to Egyptian intelligence, AlQahera News.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday that
"common ground"
was found at a recent meeting in Paris between representatives of Israel, the United States, of Egypt and Qatar, on the
“contours”
of a possible agreement relating to the release of hostages and
“a temporary ceasefire”
.
The Emir of Qatar, Tamim ben Hamad Al-Thani, is also expected in Paris on Tuesday or Wednesday to discuss the ongoing negotiations with French President Emmanuel Macron.
According to a Hamas source, the discussions concern the first phase of a plan drawn up in January by the mediators, which envisages a six-week truce associated with the release of Palestinian hostages and prisoners held by Israel, as well as the entry into Gaza of a large quantity of humanitarian aid.
But to reach a deal, Israel first requires the release of all hostages and has warned that a pause in fighting does not mean the end of the war.
Hamas, for its part, is demanding a complete ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, the lifting of the blockade imposed by Israel since 2007 and safe shelter for the hundreds of thousands of civilians displaced by the war.